Hitting two birds with one stone
by CaptainHazel
Summary: When a creature of the old religion takes Merlin's magic, he is left defenceless in the fight for both his, and Arthurs, life. Will this finally be the end of their great destiny?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello people, gosh I am bad bad person, I am crap at posting up dates and new stories but here is one that will hopefully go all the way to complete cause I have pretty much got most of it covered XD I really hope you lot will enjoy this casue I know I will enjoy writing it, I don't have beta so it's it's riddled with mistakes. **

**I sadly don't own Merlin but I own Colin's heart XD (it was a messy business but I got it...eventually;D)**

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Heavy rain whipped around the rocky outcrops that formed a guard around the run down hut that sat cradled between two sides of a small valley, animal carcasses swung from frayed rope, buffeted and twisting in the harsh wind that drove the ice needles through the air.

A soft, unearthly glow escaped from the thin drapes of tattered material over the huts boarded up windows, the inside being no more well kept than the outside.

Swaddled in old clothes that once would have glimmered in wealth, and thick pelts from the terrifying beats that prowled the surrounding woods, an old woman sat hunched in the middle of the dirt floor, her pale bulging eyes blind to the world outside of the circle of blood that surrounded her.

With each shift in her stature dark beetles and beads glimmered in her white, braided hair, thin arms covered in dark tattoos held up the mangy corpse of a midnight Raven, his wings hanging dejectedly from his small body, his once bright eyes now dull and slightly pinched.

"Spirit, why have you called me…do you not understand my rules of payment?" The woman's voice was soft and subtle like that of a young maid in the spring time, but her face was gnarled like a wizened tree that had suffered many hardships.

Darkness flittered around the edge of the hut before the wind whistled out its reply.

"_Oh, we know the price wise one, if you carry out our wish then the soul you desire will be vulnerable and we promise to bring it to you ourselves" _The old woman smiled at the ground before chanting in a rough voice.

The words seemed to form solidity and drift around the small hut in coils before sticking to the dead Raven now lying in the dirt, as the words reached an end the woman's eyes turned white and remained that way as tortured screams of the dead echoed around the surrounding area.

"I wonder how Emrys will get out of this one" She chuckled to herself, satisfied that the soul of Camelot's beloved prince would soon be trapped within the flimsy body of the dead raven, and Emrys helpless to stop it.

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**Review my pretties, or you won't get the next chapter XD**


	2. Chapter 2

**Urrrgggg this is really bad, seriously guys I'm gonna have to improve cause quite alot of you added it to your alerts (thankyou XD) **

**Anyway this gonna kick in next chapter and will be better written than this becasue I am meant to be doing lots of homework for monday that i had 2 weeks to use and only decided to start one day before the deadline (I am soo gonna fail) **

**Enjoy XD**

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Merlin followed Arthur along the corridor to his chambers; rain had begun to fall just after the prince's training session had ended for the day, and Merlin couldn't be more thankful.

"Wow that was good timing Arthur, another minute and we'd be soaked" He remarked cheerfully, his sun shine smile stretched across his face.

The crown prince grunted before picking up his pace and leaving Merlin stumbling over his own feet.

"Oh cheer up, Leon only beat you because the pitch was muddy, it's not going to affect your title of 'Camelot's greatest fighter'" Merlin accentuated the last few words with a wave of his hand, Arthur turned to glare at him.

"_Mer_lin…" Arthur's voice was stern and had a warning note in it, however Merlin carried on regardless.

"What is it Arthur?" His eyes shining with innocence and silent mirth, his smile still curled on his face.

"Shut up Merlin before I throw you in the stocks, Regardless of the rain or not" Snapping his mouth shut, Merlin continued to stare wide eyed at his prince, hoping to disconcert his friend.

Growling for him to follow, Arthur stormed round the corner leaving Merlin to smile idiotically at himself. After a few moments pause, he skipped but mostly stumbled round the corner after Arthur.

The corridor was empty, the prince already in his chambers, probably fuming and waiting for Merlin to arrive, so no one noticed Merlin blanche as a coil of dark magic hit his own.

He whimpered quietly as it grated along his own pure magic, eager to contaminate it and destroy it from within, ice cold claws seemed to search through his body leaving burning pain behind them.

Suddenly something tore from within him, causing an aching, empty chasm in his chest. The opposing magic disappeared leaving Merlin pale and shaky as he lent against the thick stone walls for support.

Gulping back vomit, he tentatively placed his foot forward only to go reeling into a stationary suit of armour placed along the wall.

"MERLIN!"Arthur's voice echoed around the corridor as he angrily glared around the door "ARE YOU INCAPABLE OF STANDING ON YOUR OWN TWO FEET? OR ARE YOU DOING IT TO SPITE ME?"

Merlin glanced up at him with a watery smile before placing his head in hands to try and sooth the headache pounding behind his eyes. Sighing in defeat, Arthur dragged his friend upright before speaking in a softer tone.

"Honestly Merlin what have you done now? I swear you do this to get out of your chores, but let's get Gaius to check that you haven't just destroyed what little brain cells you have left" Rolling his eyes to hide his concern, Arthur hauled him down the corridor and out to Gaius's chambers.

When they finally reached the door of Gaius's chamber, Merlin felt as if he had spent the journey on a ship stuck in a storm, each movement turned his stomach and made him want to be sick all over again.

He was shaking and a cold sweat had covered him in a sickly sheen, gnawing at his lip Merlin wanted to cry, he already knew what had happened but he wanted Gaius to confirm it so he could go about finding a way to fix it.

The physician's chambers looked exactly the same as they always did except for one tiny difference, Gaius wasn't there, quietly sobbing Merlin flung himself down into the wooden chair that had long since been his and rested his head in his hands.

"Uh, Merlin?" Arthur asked as he placed a wary hand on his servant's shoulder, when he didn't answer, Arthur looked frantically around as if some form of help would magically appear. As his gaze drifted over to the window he caught sight of familiar figure walking towards them in the rain.

Skidding down the steps into the courtyard, Arthur ran into Gwen just as she was about to push the wooden door open.

"Arthur!" she exclaimed in surprise before furrowing her brow "What are you doing here? Her dark curly hair was hidden by the hood of her cloak, but the few wisps at the front were clinging to her wet skin.

"I think Merlin's Broken" Arthur told her with a grimace.

Gwen looked at him incredulously before speaking carefully as if to a small child.

"Broken? How can Merlin be broken?" Arthur stumbled over his words before just pointing back up the stairs and telling her to go and see for herself.

Standing in the rain as he felt un-comfortable in the presence of this new, slightly worrying Merlin; Arthur rubbed his nose absently before wandering back to the castle with a slightly heavy heart.

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When Gaius finally arrived Merlin was sitting on his own, he had forced a very unwilling Gwen to leave him and go about her duties; he didn't want her to get into trouble on his account.

"Merlin, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Arthur?" Gaius asked as he caught sight of his ward hunched over the wooden table, looking like he carried the weight of the world on his skinny shoulders.

Pulling his gaze up from his pale hands, Merlin stared up sorrowfully, his blue eyes bloodshot and puffy.

"Merlin what happened?" Gaius asked quickly as he discarded his medicine bag and sat down opposite his ward.

"It's gone Gaius" Merlin hiccupped mournfully.

Gaius stared at him bewildered, his expression showing he had no idea to what Merlin had lost.

Dry-sobbing again, Merlin choked out 'My magic' causing the elderly physicians eyebrows too shoot up his forehead and his eyes to widen.

"Are you sure my boy?" Another tear fell down Merlin's pale cheek.

"It feels like I'm not fully here Gaius, I feel like everything I ever smiled at has been ripped from my memory and I tried to smile but I couldn't. It hurts, deep inside my chest" Gaius's face softened as he looked at Merlin, he was still only a boy really and he didn't deserve all the hardships thrown at him.

"Go to bed Merlin" Gaius told his ward soothingly as he helped to pull him up from the wooden bench and push him towards his small room "I'll do some research but I promise you it won't look as bad in the morning"

Merlin stumbled to his bed before falling face first against the slightly rough blanket and thin pillow, he wanted to scream out to the world his pain and the unfairness of it all but exhaustion soon set in and dragged him into the land of sleep.

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**Reviews?**


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